Boris Johnson under attacks for not condemning the human rights crackdown in Turkey

David Lammy, a Labour MP, has written a strongly worded letter to UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson.

He asked Johnson to condemn the human rights crackdown taking place in Turkey.

The latest repression has seen the imprisonment of the head of Amnesty International and the dismissal of more than 7,000 citizens from police and governmental positions. Coming as it has, exactly one year on from the 2016 ‘coup’ and the purge that followed, this latest crackdown could be considered as purge mark 2. And Johnson is doing nothing.

Further, this new purge comes only days after a report was published that alleged that the 2016 ‘coup’ was engineered by Turkey’s dictatorial president Recep Tayyip Erdo?an.

On July 5, a 191-page report [pdf, Turkish] by the Stockholm Center for Freedom claims the 2016 ‘coup’ in Turkey was orchestrated by Erdo?an. The report alleges the coup was a pretext for the mass persecution of his opponents. And it states that the evidence is based on publicly available data: ‘coup’ indictments, testimonials in court trials, private interviews, reviews of military expert opinions, etc. The authors say a copy of the report will be made in English soon.

In the days, weeks and months after the ‘coup’, a purge saw thousands of people arrested, disappeared or killed. And as of 15 July 2017, estimates are now around: 55,900 people arrested, 118,00 people jailed, 138,000 people sacked from their jobs, 4,400 judges and prosecutors dismissed and 150 media outlets shut down.